


three, two, one, fall in my arms now

by dearparker



Series: Peter Parker And The Guide to Being a Normal Teenager [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Awkward Boners, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Peter Parker, Blushing, Embarrassed Peter Parker, F/M, Feel-good, First Kiss, Flash Thompson Redemption, Getting Together, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Gossip, Humor, Inappropriate Humor, Interracial Relationship, Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Mocking, Ned Leeds is a Little Shit, No Smut, Peter Parker Has a Crush, Peter Parker Swears, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, School Dances, Sexual Conversations, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension, Teasing, Teen Peter Parker, Unresolved Sexual Tension, bc theyre teens and they have dumb convos, cindy x abe !, mj and peter aren’t dating yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearparker/pseuds/dearparker
Summary: ”So does Spider-Man have too much on his plate? Or can he attend the first football game of the season with me?” MJ asks softly, and her voice is almost lost in the gushes of wind.”Of course,” Peter responds with a smile.She smiles to herself and ducks her head, and he could’ve swore he sees her blush again.(or: peter and the gang have an interesting conversation at the school dance)
Relationships: Academic Decathlon Team (Spider-Man: Homecoming) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Peter Parker And The Guide to Being a Normal Teenager [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746373
Comments: 6
Kudos: 123





	three, two, one, fall in my arms now

**Author's Note:**

> feel good fic! enjoy

Watching Mr. Harrington and Mrs. Warren dance in the crowd of students, new freshmen and seniors, is certainly a highlight of the night. They’ve both managed to stumble into other students and awkwardly converse with hesitating hands.

MJ howled with laughter at the sight of it, her hand pressed against her stomach. The rest of the Academic Decathlon team stared with a look of horror on their faces.

Betty took a picture — mentioned something about it going to end up in the yearbook — then sat down at a faraway table to take more photos for the night.

It’s the first school dance of their Junior year — one where all the class simply mingle and have fun — and it’s not as bad as it usually was.

The team was huddled together in the gymnasium, other teenagers bustling about. Cindy kept tugging on the loose threads of her dress and Abe kept scolding her for doing so.

Flash is repeatedly mocking Ned’s dreamy looks at Betty across the dance floor, sighing dramatically and placing his chin on his hand. Ned scowls each time he mocks him.

It’s an accurate representation though and it makes the rest of the team snicker. Ned’s dreamy stare is definitely going to be the topic of conversation for the next Decathlon practice.

Bright lights turn on overhead and particularly ruin the party atmosphere. Some students groan at the interruption but Principals Morita calls for their attention, his smile bright against the lights and he starts talking about the upcoming Football games.

Flash whoops loudly at the mention, the upcoming weeks filled with football games until, finally, the Homecoming game. It’s almost as anticipated as the first game of the season.

Eventually, Seymour complains enough about wanting to sit down that they travel over to Betty. She smiles at them and waves.

”Check out all of these pictures I’ve taken!” She whisper-yells.

Peter leans in and instantly smiles, the first picture being of MJ laughing. Her smile is wide and she’s looking at the rest of the team.

Betty purses his lips at him and he sticks his tongue out in response. Because he’s mature.

She takes her camera and clicks through the pictures as the rest of the team takes their seats, Flash jokingly sitting on Cindy until she squeals loudly.

Abe glares in response, takes her into his arms and fiercely presses a kiss to her cheek. She laughs wholeheartedly.

Principal Morita drones on about the upcoming school year and the sun is starting to set, it’s orange and pink sky seeps into the gymnasium and highlights everyone in the crowd.

Peter looks at MJ and she’s looking right at him. He blushes fiercely and averts his gaze, but he’s blown away at how beautiful she is.

A flash goes off from across the table, people taking videos of the school dance to post on Snapchat, only to complain about how lame it is later on.

She’s smiling down at her cup when he sneaks a glance. Her hair is down and it falls over her shoulder, and he looks away before he thinks too deeply into it.

Cheers erupt from the students and he hastily yells, his attempt to act like he wasn’t staring is futile when his voice cracks mid-yell and Ned snorts from across the table.

His already heated face somehow gets hotter and he dips his head down.

Charles clears his throat, “So we’re Juniors now.”

”Wow really?” Cindy snarks.

”Shut the fuck up,” He scowls, “I’m just saying, we’re nearly _Seniors_. Almost _eighteen_. Adults. College. Jobs. Taxes. _Sex_.”

”There’s no rush on having sex,” Betty laughs.

”Speak for yourself, virgins!” Flash cackles, “Speaking of sex, do you think Spider-Man has ever called his dick a webshooter?”

Ned howls with laughter and chokes on his drink, his faces flushing red as he snorts and glances at him not-so-subtly. Peter blinks dumbly, because he has no idea what to think of it.

_But in a sense..._

MJ scoffs slightly, “It’s gross when guys openly talk about their dicks and use actual names to refer to their dicks. I heard a guy once refer to his as _Hulk ‘_ cuz he smashes.”

Peter chuckles as Betty confirms her point, her story about the creeps adding her on Snapchat and how one dude even asked her to marry him. It’s a little baffling.

Ned looks at him and sticks a finger down his throat jokingly, making gagging noises so loudly the people from the table over glance over.

”No way!” Seymour says around the rim of their cup. Their eyebrows shoot up, “You’re fucking lying.”

”I’m completely serious,” Cindy laughs, “But my brother broke the dude’s phone when he saw the photo. Haven’t worn it since.”

”Men suck,” Seymour declares.

Flash clears his throat, “Anyone gonna answer my question?”

”I would _hope_ not,” MJ replies, slightly disturbed.

”Definitely,” Abe retorts at the same time.

”Definitely,” Peter mutters quietly, but MJ still hears him. She rolls her eyes wholeheartedly.

Ned still howling with laughter from across the table, his eyes scrunched closed and his wheezes cause the entire team to dissolve into chuckles.

Mr. Dell comes by momentarily and offers to get them all drinks, cracks a joke about Mrs. Warren’s horrendous flirting, then leaves just as quickly as he came.

Students trickle back to the dance floor and the bass is booming, the gym floors seem to thrum with it. Seymour, Abe and Charles go back to the dance floor with a small wave.

Flash begins talking about possibly looking for a new relationship, new year new possibilities, and Betty encourages him to do so.

He teases Ned about it, not-so-subtly winking whenever Betty starts to gush about movie dates and bouquets of roses. He’s snickering under his breath.

Mr. Dell stops by again with a tray of solo cups, red punch nearly filled to the brim and they all thank him, to which he shrugs nonchalantly.

Apparently he’d rather serve students punch and cold turkey sandwiches rather than listen to Harrington drone on about Monica Warren.

Cindy smiles to herself and hops right back into the previous conversation. She starts to gush about Abe, how he smiles whenever she laughs and it makes them happy that she’s happy.

”So what about you MJ?” Betty questions, her arms folded in front of her. Eyebrow quirked and she’s smirking.

If they didn’t know any better they would think Betty was instigating, but they _didn’t_ know any better apparently.

MJ shuts her down instantly, “No.”

”C’mon, no one special?” Cindy wiggles her brows.

Peter looks over at her, her flushed cheeks, and he thinks to himself, _holy shit, does Michelle Jones have a crush? who’s lucky enough?_

Her jaw is clenched and she’s silently threatening them both, her eyes wide and eyebrows low, her nostrils flare.

”Does Michelle have a crush?!” Flash sing-songs, and he leans in. Practically everyone at the table leans in, anticipation in their eyes.

”No!” She instantly denies and her voice drags on, an exaggerated _uh_ at the end of her sentence, and she only gets like that when she’s flustered.

Michelle Jones has a _crush._

Ned’s staring at the side of his face and he wants to kick in retaliation, tell him to shut the fuck up.

Cindy confirms the fact when her eyebrows raise, nearly to her hairline, and she lets out an incredulous laugh. She starts laughing alongside Betty.

”If you don’t have a crush —“

” _No!”  
_

“— Then why were you staring at —“

_“Nope!”_

“— Peter’s bulge like this entire time?!“

”Betty!” “My _what_?!”

Everyone at the table takes a few seconds to let it settle in, and when it does, Flash, Betty, Cindy, and Ned are absolutely howling with laughter while MJ flushes a bright red.

Peter’s also blushing terribly, the tips of his ears red, and his body feels like a furnace, because _seriously?!_ It’s a dorky, teenage dream come true.

He can’t hide the smile the spreads on his face and he coughs to clear his throat. He prays his voice doesn’t crack when he talks.

”So Betty, enlighten me —“ His voice doesn’t crack, but it’s noticeably higher than earlier.

”No!” MJ nearly screeches.

”You didn’t notice —“

“Betty shut the fuck up,” MJ hisses.

“No keep talking, I wanna hear this.” Peter smiles.

“Hmmm I don’t know,” Betty snickers and glances at Cindy.

“Don’t be shy, speak up.”

”MJ s’been practically drooling at the sight of you!”

“I can’t believe Michelle has a crush on _Peter!_ ” Flash exclaims.

”Dude she’s been staring all night, honestly the sexual tension between you two is through the roof!” Cindy comments. MJ doesn’t respond, her face hidden in her hands.

”I thought it was obvious,” She says.

”Peter was talki —” Ned gestures with his hand.

”Shut the fuck up!” Peter automatically hisses in response, eyes wide. MJ automatically looks up and she’s got a smirk on her face.

“No let’s talk about this —“

“Nope!” Peter screeches, downs his drink in one go and then shoves himself to stand, “I’m gonna go dance.”

“Shake your ass for MJ!” Flash barks out.

Peter speed-walks over to the dance floor, his face feeling hot and he adjusts his pants as he goes. He fiddles with his hands until he runs into Tiny, and the small boy drags him over to Abe, Charles, and Seymour.

“Hey man!” Charles yells in greeting.

He nods in response, Abe pulling him into a half-hug, arm looped around his back, then a new song starts playing.

Embarrassingly so, it’s Sean Kingston’s _Fire Burning,_ and Tiny whoops loudly. Throwback songs have been playing all evening but he’s hopping up and down at this song.

Abe cheers, and everyone shouts at the top of their lungs. The noises have been assaulting Peter’s senses this entire dance but eventually he’s letting loose, his body tense and his stomach felt tight, but he dances with his peers.

Charles slips and his drink goes flying all over some girl off to the side, and her friends shriek in offense, and like the good dude he is, points at Abe and Peter.

They scoff and Abe, as mature as he is, mocks them wholeheartedly. Tiny worms his way in between the two of them, his drink smells suspicious, a hint of Vodka maybe, and it’s explaining all his behavior.

Tiny might be an energetic chess player, but add in a smidge of alcohol and then he’s stumbling all over the place. Blurting things out — he starts to talk about the _horrendous_ color of that girl’s dress and how the red punch Charles spilled did her a _favor_ — and he’s blanking every other second.

Seymour scowls at Tiny, they tell him to stop talking shit, and they smile over at the table.

”MJ looks amazing tonight,” They comment, nodding over at the table. She stands from her seat and smoothes out her dress, takes her cup and then she stalks over to the punch table.

Seymour nudges him excitedly, “Go talk to her!”

”I don’t —“

”Come on,” Seymour rolls their eyes, “You only live once and you _cannot_ be stuck on Liz forever! Move your ass Parker.”

He huffs, about to protest, when he’s shoved forward. Seymour smiles encouragingly and waves him on.

He speed walks over, his face heating up slightly. MJ looks absolutely stunning and her black dress fits her perfectly, and truly everything about her makes his heart race and his stomach get tight.

He shuffles on his feet a few feet away before he closes the distance silently, his cheeks red and his heart pounding so fast he’s scared it’s going to explode.

Looking back at the table she came from, he sees the rest of the team staring apprehensively, Betty automatically throwing a thumbs up. Flash, for all his maturity, starts smooching the air fiercely and jerks randomly in his seat.

He turns back with a grimace on his face and MJ is looking at him, smiling slightly. They blush and she averts her gaze back to the bowl of punch.

”H-Hey,” Peter manages, and if it even possible, his face heats up even more. She smiles.

”Hi.”

He pours himself a drink and he can practically feel the awkward — sexual? — tension between them, and if he’s honest, he feels... he doesn’t even know.

His cheeks hurt from smiling and his stomach feels tight, he feels like a firework is about to set off. He clears his throat.

”You uh.. you look very pretty.”

”And therefore I have value?” She retorts with a quirked eyebrow.

”No-No that’s not what I —“

“I’m messing with you,” She nods and rocks back and forth on her feet, “You look pretty too.”

“Listen, I-I am so sorry if it felt like the team was embarrassing you,” Peter trails off when she shakes her head.

”Everyone needs to be called out every once in a while,” MJ states, “Besides, it’s true.”

Peter blinks, “Oh?”

His brain short-circuits momentarily and she ducks her head down, her smile hidden under the shadow her hair creates.

He stammers before his jaw shuts with an audible click. He forgets all about the punch, the dance, the team, all for this rare moment of confidence and he straightens a little.

”To be fair...” He says, “I-I was staring too. At your face! Your face — I wouldn’t uh- I wouldn’t want to objectify you or anything but you look very beautiful — and I’m digging myself into a deeper hole, I’ll just..”

MJ smiles a toothy grin and glances around the dance, her cheeks tinted a soft pink and her lashes flutter. She looks at him.

”Walk me home?”

He’s not sure if he should consider this an olive branch — or if he should consider anything — but then he’s got a shit-eating grin on his face and he’s muttering a yes.

She grabs his wrist gently and it sends a jolt throughout his body, and then they’re off. He’s trailing behind her with a heated face. His ears ring.

Peter can’t properly describe what he’s feeling at the moment, he’s giddy, excited, nervous, hell so many things he doesn’t know what to do. He spares a glance at the Academic Decathlon team and Ned claps him on, and they’re encouraging the two of them.

MJ leads him out the dance and out of Midtown Tech, the fresh air assaulting him and he’s gasping a little. His body still feels incredibly hot and he’s a little disappointed when she lets go of his hand in favor or wrapping her arms around her abdomen.

Cars are honking outside the gates, and he heaves out a sigh. She’s glances at him with her shadowed eyes and he’s sure he’s got butterflies.

Ever since last year’s Homecoming disaster, the two of them had gotten closer somehow. She had started sitting closer, offering an awkward smirk, even going as far as inviting him over during Spring Break.

Since then, Ned, MJ and him have grown indescribably close since. Hanging out at least four times a week during Summer Break, sharing his _Spider-Man_ secret with her, finding out that she already knew, introducing each other to parents and aunts, it was like whiplash.

Ned noticed something between them — nothing ever _really_ happened between him and MJ, just awkward blushing when their hands would brush against each other — and ever since he’s taken it upon himself to try and get them together.

Of course some of it proved to be fruitless after MJ had a summer fling with a Senior girl, but it ended long before the month of August rolled around.

_And... she had kissed his cheek on his sixteenth birthday, and he nearly melted then and there._

”So does Spider-Man have too much on his plate? Or can he attend the first football game of the season with me?” MJ asks softly, and her voice is almost lost in the gushes of wind.

”Of course,” Peter responds with a smile.

She smiles to herself and ducks her head, and he could’ve swore he sees her blush again.

They keep walking and creating small talk, eventually diving into the topic of music. She’s not as into the bands on her t-shirts apparently, she’s never even listened to Arctic Monkeys before, but she loves some Australian band that had their debut album released in 2014.

She gets giddy when she brings up her concert tickets for their tour, and he likes the way she’s using over exaggerating hand gestures when she’s talking about them, even going as far as imitating the band’s drummer.

Her smile is is bright as they turn down the street and he’s once again stunned at how beautiful she is. The way she still manages to glow under the dim street lights and her lips spread when she exhales sharply through her nose.

It’s mind-blowing to think someone as beautiful as _her_ had been staring at _him_. Supposedly.

Eventually they slow to a stop in front of a house minutes away from campus, and it’s got a ramp going straight up to the front door. Two hedges are on each side of it and screen door’s handle is crushed.

”You know, I had a great time tonight,” MJ says with a resigned expression. She’s glancing up at her front door as if it’s the reason for her sorrows and late nights.

When she looks at him again her lips quirks, and it reminds him of all the times he’d watched her read books from afar. He exhales a breathless giggle, and in a moment of confidence, he finally admits it.

”I really like you.”

MJ almost instantly smiles, as if she had been waiting for this moment all night. He’s not too sure what happens next and he’s only slightly scared to find out, but she’s quick in her giddy response.

”I really like you too.”

He fidgets slightly, his eyes searching hers, and then he steps forward just as she does and kisses her.

It doesn’t last more than a second, but automatically, his entire face feels hot and he wants to smile. When he glances at her she’s got a small smile on her face.

He nods to himself, attempts to ignore how awkward it probably actually was, steels himself again, and leans in. He brings a hand up to cup her right cheek, and it’s like a dose of euphoria is injected right into his heart.

When he pulls away and opens his eyes, and she’s already looking at him with a soft look. Her eyes a bright even in the darkness and she’s smiling gently.

Peter giggles to himself when he sees her hand is cupping his cheek and it feels like it’s straight out of a fictional novel. Or a coming of age story, and he supposes this is the best part.

He can’t begin to describe the amount of flips and twists his stomach started doing as soon as their lips touch — he can taste, smell her strawberries and cream chapstick — and he looks up at her through her lashes.

”Betty did me a favor when you were busy dancing,” MJ pulls something from the inside of her dress, and tries not to blush too fiercely when she pulls it from her bra, “Figures this is the start of something new.”

”I’ll see you on Monday,” MJ states softly, then she turns and walks up to her door. He watches her go inside and his hand is warm with whatever she gave him.

When he does look down at it, he’s surprised to see that it’s a picture. Not just any — a picture of him and MJ at the table from earlier. He’s got his eyes closed, cheeks tinted pink and the sunset colors the picture nicely. MJ is smiling at him through strands of her hair, and everything else is blurred in the background. They’re the center of this picture and he looks up at the night sky.

Betty Brant knew what she was doing.

Peter smiles brightly to himself and he begins to walk home, his thumb running up and down the picture. His phone continues to buzz in his pocket but his lips still tingle and his stomach feels tight and he feels like he’s riding out a high.

He’s pretty sure MJ confirmed they were a thing now. Like, a thing. Couple. The real deal.

He exhales a nervous breath and shakes out his limbs, a new skip to his step as he walks back to Midtown. May is probably already there.

MJ’s lips were so soft, so addictive, he finds himself already wanting more and it hasn’t even been thirty minutes yet. He’s still giddy, his bobble headed self stumbles down the street but he’s gently holding the picture so he doesn’t bend the edges.

True to his word, Aunt May is parked outside of Midtown. He sees the crowd of students — including the team — and he books it entirely. He’s not quite ready to deal with the team, he already _knows_ Flash is going to get a kick out of this one, but he promised Ned he would take him home.

Ned yelps loudly when his arm is tugged forcefully until he’s stumbling over his feet. He’d been in the middle of a _very_ shy conversation with Betty and he begins to scowl, until he notices it’s his best friend.

Suddenly he’s in front of Aunt May’s car and Peter seems to be vibrating with so much pent up energy he misses the car door handle two times before gripping it.

”Get in, hurry up!” Peter exclaims, and he distantly hears Flash’s shoes scuffing against the sidewalk. They both manage to get into the car as soon as Flash breaks away from the crowd and Aunt May instantly speeds off.

Before May can even ask how the night went, he begins to ramble so quickly it feels like whiplash. He begins to stammer and ignore some probably key details — he’s not too keen on his Aunt knowing he had an awkward boner half the night — but eventually he’s shoving the picture Betty took under their noses.

May scolds him when he does it to her and he apologizes sheepishly. Ned blinks for a while until the story begins to make sense in his mind, and then he’s gasping so loud it’s nearly exaggerated, breaking out into the squeakiest _oh my gosh!_ it’s impressive.

Peter blushes throughout his entire story telling, stammering his way through sentences when he tries to describe what he felt, and he keeps staring at the picture with the widest smile on his face.

Eventually three becomes two, bidding farewell to Ned with the hushed promise of all the details later tonight.

May smiles over at him, “I’m really glad you’re enjoying yourself Pete.”

He’s glad too, considers if the most gracious moment in his horror-stricken years, and he’s smiling out the window.

And if the picture ends up in a picture frame on his bedside, well, everyone would know, because Peter is too pleased to stop talking about it.

Even MJ calls him annoying, but he’s too fond to care.

**Author's Note:**

> leave comments and kudos! i try to reply to them if i have time


End file.
